Draft:Kriegsspiel in the modern day

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Kriegsspiel in the modern day has seen continued popularity and use by militaries and recreational groups alike. Kriegsspiel played an important role in the development of strategy for WWI; by the interwar period, most militaries had adopted Kriegsspiel as an important education and training tool.

Background[edit]

Use by militaries[edit]

Pre-WWI[edit]

Kriegsspiel was instrumental to army tactical and strategic planning in many Western militaries concerning World War I. While the Prussian, and then the Imperial German Army, were the only nation to extensively use Kriegsspiel for training purposes, Kriegsspiel rules were commercially published and friendly games were occasionally held with nations which had good relations with Prussia or Germany. The Swedish, Dutch and Austrian armies had all adopted Kriegsspiel before 1866. [1]

Alfred von Schlieffen utilised Kriegsspiel extensively in the development of the Schlieffen Plan. These games succeeded in showing much of the weaknesses of the plan that would show during its implementation during the autumn of 1914; for example, it was discovered that the armies on the right flank would run out of supplies, and this resulted in Moltke the Younger conducting the first implementation of motorised ammunition battalions in the world to alleviate the supply situation.[2] This flaw was exploited during the earlier stages of WWI by the French during the First Battle of the Marne, defeating the German armies on the right flank.

The British army conducted a wargame in 1905 as well envisioning a German attack through Belgium, which resulted in the destruction of the French army before British units could arrive in force. [3] This caused great alarm in Parliament and the stepping up of cross-Channel co-operation between the British and French General Staffs, which contributed the successful speedy deployment of the BEF to be in a position to aid in the French victory on the Marne.[4]

The room in which Kriegsspiel games took place in the US Army War College, Washington D.C., 1914

The use of Kriegsspiel, however, also had limitations. For example, the German wargaming efforts failed to anticipate the diplomatic and civilian reactions to military actions. The German General Staff hence failed to anticipate Britain's entry into the war, or Belgian civilians conducting sabotage on their own railways. Other nations' Kriegsspiel systems took notice of these deficiencies and attempted to overcome them; the British Army dropped Kriegsspiel in 1902 on the basis that it had failed to anticipate morale and economic issues in the Boer War.[1] The German military historian Hans Delbrück asserted that the lack of political consideration in Kriegsspiel was a significant cause of the German defeat in WWI; he argued that, had foreign policy considerations been taken into account during the planning phase of the Kaiserschlacht, Germany would be able to utilise the panic in Allied capitals during the initial German success to obtain generous peace terms.[5]

Interwar period[edit]

Based on experience from WWI, many militaries continued to adopt and adapt Kriegsspiel to their individual needs.

Germany[edit]

Due to limitations of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to greatly reduce the size of the officer corps and abolish the general staff.[6] General Hans von Seeckt, the first post-war Chief of Staff, hence advocated greatly for the use of Kriegsspiel. Students at the Kriegsakademie would participate in roughly one Kriegsspiel game per week, and participate in staff rides that verified conclusions from the tabletop games. This also enabled Germany to develop doctrine for weapons which it was forbidden to have, such as aircraft, tanks and submarines.[7] Moreover, the German government established strategic wargames in 1927, which aimed to alleviate the flaws of traditional Kriegsspiel in predicting political and economic conseqences.[7] Historian Dr. Milan Vego attributes the success of the German army in early WWII to the proliferation of Kriegsspiel in the inter-war period, citing the ability to create "virtual veterans" before any actual action was fought.[8] However, there were also flaws in the German implementation of Kriegsspiel; for example, in naval wargames, the British side rigidly followed then-Britsh doctrine without adaptation. This would not be the case in real combat, and led to a delayed German response to improving British convoy and anti-submarine tactics in the Battle of the Atlantic.[9]

United Kingdom[edit]

The British largely abandoned tabletop Kriegsspiel after WWI, instead opting for live exercises. This had various detrimental impacts; for example, British armour doctrine lagged behind as the ability of the tank was not fully reflected on the field.[10]

France[edit]

The French general staff also largely abandoned tabletop Kriegsspiel, as the training of large reserve armies were prioritised. Several attempts were made to simulate scenarios of German attack; in 1938, the French simulated a German armoured attack through the Ardennes, much as the actual Germans would do in 1940 in the Ardennes Offensive. However, the French failed to take into account many new innovations such as using aircraft to suppress defenders, which caused a severe underestimation of the time needed for the Germans to breach the defensive line.[11]

United States[edit]

US Army[edit]

Due to the lack of funds for the US Army during peacetime, Kriegsspiel continued to play a role in the training of officers, under the name of "map manuveurs". The graduation wargames divided the student body into a Red team and a Blue team, the latter of which would aim to defend the state of New England and the former would attack it.[12][13]

Early games conducted by the United States Army Command and General Staff College often failed to play to the conclusion of a campaign, but by 1939 this shortcoming was largely eliminated. This contributed to the experience of US staff officers entering into WWII. On the other hand, the War College failed to achieve the same level of experience due to the use of students to aid the General Staff, which took up large amounts of teaching time.[12] Army and division level exercises did not see a resurgence due to lack of funds until the Louisiana field exercises in 1941.[14]

The army, however, largely failed to take into account the threat of airpower. For example, in 1934 Major Claire Chennault of the US Army Air Service was dismissed from the CGSC after his complaints that Army exercises forbade the use of air power before a trench line had been formed in an unrealistic manner.[15] Use of air power in both table and field exercises was highly scripted and did not provide a realistic depiction of the way air power would be used in WWII.[16]

US Navy[edit]
See also: Fleet problems

Kriegsspiel featured highly prominently in the US Naval War College. "Capstone" wargames were played at graduation by each cohort, in which there would be different strengths and weaknesses given to the simulated enemy, hence forcing the student to learn of enemy strategy in real time in a realistic manner (as Japanese doctrine was relatively opaque to the US navy at the time).[17] These table wargames were supplimented by live exercises in the form of Fleet Problems. Through these two processes, doctrinal changes (particularly with regard to naval air power use) could be quickly devised and promulgated through the entire force.[citation needed]

US Navy wargaming also contributed significantly to a major doctrinal shift regarding US war aims. Previous American plans for war in the Pacific, such as War Plan Orange, invoked Mahanian doctrine of a decisive battle destroying the Japanese fleet, after a crossing of the Pacific. Kriegsspiel exercises soon revealed this to be highly unrealistic. As a result, wars of longer and longer duration was to be expected, including an initial period where US naval forces would be on the strategic defensive.[18]

However, the benefits of wargaming and exercises were not always utilised to the maximal possible extent. For example, in Fleet Problems 13 and 19, surprise air raids were made on Oahu, in one case on a Sunday, to great effect. Despite this pre-warning, the Navy failed to implement any measures to improve the air defenses of the island before Pearl Harbour. In Fleet Problem 21, which was conducted as a tabletop wargame in 1940 due to rising international tensions, the deficiency of the US forces in night surface fighting (and the corresponding Japanese proficiency) was noted, but no action was taken before WWII began as it was assumed that surface radar sets would reach most of the fleet before the beginning of war.[19]

Soviet Union[edit]

Soviet wargaming in the interwar period was largely based on previous Tsarist wargaming doctrine. However, Soviet attempts at modernising the wargame to suit modern needs was largely unsuccessful. A kriegsspiel in January 1941 simulated a German invasion similar to Operation Barbarossa, but despite alarming results, Soviet leadership failed to take any effective action to remedy the shortcomings of the Red Army.[20]

Japan[edit]

Kriegsspiel was considered a key part of the training in the Japanese army and naval academies. Some Japanese wargames integrated political and economic aspects into the strategic simulation. For example, the August 1941 wargame run by the Total War Research Institute included the politics of many belligerent and non-belligerent countries, and ended with the conclusion of an Axis victory.[citation needed] Others, however, failed to take te same into account. For example, Japanese wargames of the attack on Pearl Harbour succeeded in taking the Americans by tactical and operational surprise, but failed to consider the political consequences of the surprise attack which were not taken into account in the August 1941 game.[21]

WWII[edit]

Cold War[edit]

Post-Cold War[edit]

In addition to use in formal militaries, military historians in academia make frequent use of Kriegsspiel in teaching and research. For example, at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, modified Kriegsspiel rulesets are used to teach students the concept of the fog of war and its impact on decision-making in a modern context.[22]

Recreational use[edit]

Pre-WWII[edit]

As European powers rushed to adopt Kriegsspiel, civilian interest in Kriegsspiel also began to pick up. Prussian Kriegsspiel sets were published commercially.[23] In 1873, Captain A. Schmidt wrote an article in the German popular magazine Daheim [de] introducing the Tschischwitz rules to a wide audience.[citation needed]

Intelligentsia soon began to adopt Kriegsspiel as a hobby. Henry Spenser Wilkinson founded the Oxford Kriegsspiel Society while studying at the University of Oxford in 1873, and is considered the oldest civilian Kriegsspiel society.[24] Already popular miniature toy soldiers were incorporated into the games, in place of Reisswitz blocks, by various amateur players such as Robert Louis Stevenson.[25]

A Martial Elegy for some Lead Soldiers - For certain soldiers lately dead, our revernt dirge shall here be said. Them, when their martial leader called, no dread preparative appalled; but leaden harded, leaden heeled, I marked them steadfast in the field. Death grimly sided with the foe, And smote each leaden hero low. Proudly they perished one by one, the dread pea-cannon's work was done! O not for them the tears we shed, consigned to their original lead; but while unmoved their sleep they take, we mourn for their dear Captain's sake; for their dear Captain, who shall smart both in his pocket and his heart; who saw his heoes shed their gore, and lacked a shilling to buy more!
A poem written by Stevenson on the deaths of miniature soldiers in Kriegsspiel.

Civilians also began to publish rulesets independent of the military. Fred T. Jane, author of the naval catalogue Jane's Fighting Ships, used the rating system found in his first edition to create a naval Kriegsspiel ruleset, Rules for the Jane Naval War Game, in 1898.[25] The toy manufacturer William Britain, Jr. published the pamphlet Great War Games for Young and Old in 1908 which greatly increased the sales of his miniature soldiers and guns.[26] The author H. G. Wells published his self-developed ruleset, Little Wars, involving miniature soldiers in the Windsor Magazine in December 1912,[27] where he described the game as "for boys aged from twelve to one hundred and fifty". His ruleset is credited as the first to be published and publicised without an underlying commercial purpose.[26] Wells considered his game a tool of peace, writing that:[citation needed]

They tell me, what I already a little suspected, that Kriegsspiel, as it is played by the British army, is a very dull and unsatisfactory exercise, lacking in realism, the stir and the unexpected, obsessed by the umpire at every turn, and of very doubtful value in waking up the imagination, which should be its chief function.

The ruleset received widespread critical appraisal, with the New York Times stating "It is like a game of chess... an engrossing game for an afternoon and evening".[28]

After WWI, due to the civilian aversion for war, recreational Kriegsspiel suffered a sharp decline. The leading miniature manufacturer, Britains, first turned to manufacturing shrapnel balls then to farm toys. The primary audience of Well's ruleset, that of young men, were also largely traumatised by war and had no interest in further simulation of such.[29]

The German emigres Otto Gottstein played a large part in reigniting British public interest in miniatures and Kriegsspiel in the 1930s. In 1932, he donated 15 dioramas depicting scenes from British military history to the Royal United Services Institute museum. He helped found the British Model Soldier Society (BMSS) in 1935 , which continued exploration of Well's ruleset in its journal, the Bulletin.[citation needed]

American civilian interest in Kriegsspiel, on the other hand, remained fairly constant due to the lesser impact WWI had on the American population. Industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes and author Fletcher Pratt independently published and demonstrated their own versions of miniature Kriegsspiel in the 1930s.[citation needed] Unlike earlier British iterations, Bel Geddes' version relied more on the Reisswitzian tradition, reintroducing the fog of war, chain of command and the need for paper orders. This ruleset attracted many prominent players, such as then-Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher.[30] Pratt's naval war game, based on Jane's version with innovations regarding naval aviation, was notorious for attracting female players during large games, a practice which Wells had previously disavowed.[31] An illustration in Pratt's 1943 ruleset includes a figure of a skirted woman adjusting a firing arrow.[citation needed]

Cold War[edit]

Kriegsspiel on the internet[edit]

Notable examples[edit]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 20. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  2. ^ Vego, Milan (2012). "German War Gaming". Naval War College Review. 65 (4): 106–148. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  3. ^ Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 38. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  4. ^ Wilson, Andrew (1968). The Bomb and the Computer. London: Barrie and Rockliff. pp. 28–32.
  5. ^ Paret, Peter; Craig, Gordon A.; Gilbert, Felix (1986). Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. Princeton University Press. pp. 349–350. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  6. ^ Articles 159, 160, 163 and Table 1
  7. ^ a b Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 44. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  8. ^ Vego, Milan. German War Gaming. pp. 106–147.
  9. ^ Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 45. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  10. ^ Liddell-Hart, Basil Henry (1965). The Liddell Hart Memoirs. New York: G. P. Putnam. pp. 252–254.
  11. ^ Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 47. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  12. ^ a b Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 48. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  13. ^ Schifferle, Peer (2010). America's School for War: Fort Leavenworth, Officer Education, and Victory in World War II (Modern War Studies). University Press of Kansas. p. 63. ISBN 978-0700617142.
  14. ^ "The Louisiana Maneuvers: The National WWII Museum New Orleans". Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  15. ^ Chennault, Claire (1949). Way of a Fighter: Memoirs of Claire Lee Chennault. New York: G. P. Putnam. pp. 18–19.
  16. ^ Finney, Robert T. (1992). History of the Air Corps Tactical School. Center for Air Force History. pp. 22–23.
  17. ^ Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 53. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  18. ^ Vlahos, Michael (March 1986). "Wargaming, an Enforcer of Strategic Realism: 1919-1942". Naval War College Newport Papers. 39 (2): 4–6. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  19. ^ Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 54. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  20. ^ Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 55. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  21. ^ Caffrey Jr., Matthew B. (2019). "On Wargaming. How Wargames Have Shaped History and How They May Shape the Future". Naval War College Newport Papers. 43: 56. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  22. ^ Wintjes, Jorit; Pielström, Steffen. "Pluie de Balles – Complex Wargames in the Classroom". Analog Game Studies. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  23. ^ Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the world : a history of simulating wars, people and fantastic adventures, from chess to role-playing games. San Diego: Unreason Press LLC. pp. 243–244. ISBN 978-0615642048. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  24. ^ Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the world : a history of simulating wars, people and fantastic adventures, from chess to role-playing games. San Diego: Unreason Press LLC. pp. 254–255. ISBN 978-0615642048. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  25. ^ a b Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the world : a history of simulating wars, people and fantastic adventures, from chess to role-playing games. San Diego: Unreason Press LLC. pp. 257–261. ISBN 978-0615642048. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  26. ^ a b Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the world : a history of simulating wars, people and fantastic adventures, from chess to role-playing games. San Diego: Unreason Press LLC. p. 263. ISBN 978-0615642048. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  27. ^ "Little Wars". Windsor Magazine. December 1912. pp. 39–50.
  28. ^ Book Review Digest. New York: H. W. Wilson Co. 1913. p. 560. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  29. ^ Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the world : a history of simulating wars, people and fantastic adventures, from chess to role-playing games. San Diego: Unreason Press LLC. pp. 270–272. ISBN 978-0615642048. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  30. ^ Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the world : a history of simulating wars, people and fantastic adventures, from chess to role-playing games. San Diego: Unreason Press LLC. pp. 276–277. ISBN 978-0615642048. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  31. ^ Peterson, Jon (2012). Playing at the world : a history of simulating wars, people and fantastic adventures, from chess to role-playing games. San Diego: Unreason Press LLC. pp. 279–282. ISBN 978-0615642048. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
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